Pick a browser, any browser. With a list of options that includes Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google's Chrome, Apple's Safari and Opera, Web surfers have plenty of choices in deciding how they want to surf the Web. As a result, market leader Internet Explorer has more competition than it's had in years.

And that competition is having an effect. Datamation reports that the latest research from StatCounter shows IE's share of the worldwide market for browsers has dipped under 50 percent. The article breaks out where the leading competitors stand in relation to IE's traditionally more dominant position.

At the same time that Microsoft was launching the beta for the latest version of its widely used browser last month, Internet Explorer's (IE) continued its slow but steady decline -- sliding to its lowest point ever, according to one Web analytics firm.

The research arm of StatCounter reported Tuesday that, by its criteria, IE use dropped to 49.9 percent in September on a worldwide basis, the first time that Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) browser has fallen below 50 percent on StatCounter's index.